


Unfinished Sympathy

by assassi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus is NOT a baby :D, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Ron Weasley, Ginny is a cool ex, Healer Draco Malfoy, Multi, comming out of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 17:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17104988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assassi/pseuds/assassi
Summary: “Dad. I’m not a baby anymore. You can tell me… if… there was ever something more between you and Mr. Malfoy.”“What! No!”There hadn’t been, not really.“It’s just… it was just…”“Just?”, Al prompted.“Unfinished… sympathy”, Harry smiled darkly.“Well. Finish it then”, Al said simply.





	Unfinished Sympathy

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've had this in my head for a while and, tbh, I quite like how it turned out. If you do too, let me know :)  
> "Alex"'s name was inspired by the artist Alex Malfoy and their works. Check them out, I love them and they have inspired other stories as well :)  
> The title is from a song by Massive Attack - perfect for rainy days if you ask me :)

_It was quiet, so quiet now that it was all over. As if the world had stopped spinning and rushing and could finally take a breath of freedom, long awaited and longed-for. It was as if the tension was finally broken and the relief was so deep that everything had turned into a sigh of silence._

_The sound of the raindrops on the broken stairs of the once majestic manor was the only thing masking the thundering of their hearts. Their eyes met, unsure in the aftermath of a war they hadn’t dreamt of surviving. Yet here they were, alive and confused, two stupid kids rushed into an adulthood they hadn’t expected and weren’t prepared for…_

 

* * *

 

“Harry?”

“Hmm?”, he snapped out of his thoughts and turned his gaze from the rainy day outside the café’s window back to his best friend sitting opposite from him around the small table.

“Where are you?”, Hermione asked.

He forced on a smile.

“Here, drinking coffee with my best friend.”

 _Instead of trying to find a way to talk to my son._ It felt like he was still that stupid kid who didn’t know how to voice what was inside him, didn’t know how to communicate with anyone who wasn’t Ron or Hermione…

“Harry. What’s wrong?”, she asked gently.

He sighed, knowing there was no point to keep the charade around her.

“It’s Al. I feel like we’ve grown apart and I hate it. I keep trying to talk to him but he seems closed off somehow, like he’s not telling me something really important.”

“Are you sure that’s not just Auror paranoia?”, she smiled softly.

He forced on a smile but shook his head.

“Ginny’s noticed it too. At first I thought it might have been Al’s reaction to our divorce but…  He can see that Ginny and I are civil. More than that, I believe I can say we’re friendly. We might not be together anymore, romantically, but we’re still a family when it comes to the kids. We’ve made that very clear.”

“And I’m very proud of you both”, Hermione said.

Harry huffed. “Don’t be. I still don’t know what it is that my son hides from me.”

“It’s probably something insignificant”, Hermione reasoned. “A detention or something.”

“Nah, that’s James”, Harry smiled.

She smiled back over the rim of the cup but nodded in agreement.

“He knows he can talk to you, Harry. You guys have always had a strong bond.”

Harry sighed. He hoped she was right.

 

* * *

 

Hermione was always right. And it was just a matter of time, Harry guessed, until Albus was ready to talk.

It was Christmas break and they were all back from Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had planned the usual feast for the whole family but there were still a few hours till dinner. Harry took that chance to steal some time with his youngest child, giving Al an opportunity to open up about what was bothering him without seeming like an invasive parent, pushing for answers.

They were walking back from the market, arms clutching grocery bags, when the boy finally spoke.

“So… there’s someone”, Al began hesitantly.

“Okay”, Harry encouraged.

Al sighed, both exasperatedly and helplessly.

“No, dad, there’s _someone_ and it’s… serious. I know you think of me as a child but according to the wizarding law we become adults when we turn 17, so it’s perfectly normal to have a serious relationship at 16.”

“Okay”, Harry nodded, suppressing a smile at his son’s arguments.

“I’m telling you all that so that you know it’s not a whim for me, or an experiment. We’ve been together for six months.”

“Six…?! No, that’s… well, it’s not fine that you’ve kept it from me and your mom but, okay. Right. We’ll address that later. What’s her name?”

Al took a deep breath, teeth worrying his bottom lip.

“…His name is Alex.”

 

* * *

 

“So, Scorpius has a… love interest.”

Hermione beamed.

“That’s great, Harry! I’m glad you guys finally talked and sorted it out.”

Harry grumbled something under his nose. Hermione’s smile faltered.

“Um. It _is_ great, right? Are we not happy?”, she asked.

“…They’ve been together for half a year”, Harry groused.

Hermione looked _impressed_ , of all things. “Well. Again, that’s great, isn’t it?”

“He’s been hiding it from me for six months, sneaking around…”, Harry fumed.

“Harry. He’s a teenage boy, _of course_ he doesn’t come telling you everything and be glad about that!”, she said pointedly and Harry made a face at the implication. “That, and I’ll remind you that you’ve been sneaking around pretty much your whole time at Hogwarts.”

“Hmm, I seem to recall that I usually wasn’t alone in that! Who was it there with me? Wait… could it be… YOU?! And your husband.”

“Har-har. Cut back the sass, you’re not seventeen anymore.”

Harry pouted.

“There’s more”, he admitted.

“Oh?”

“It’s a boy. Albus has a boyfriend.”

Hermione was quiet for a second and Harry turned back to look at her. She was staring back as if trying to figure something out.

“Is that a problem for you, Harry?”, she asked carefully.

He sighed. “No. Yes. I mean, no, I’m not a homophobe and I don’t want my son to stick to the closet. I just… wished that I knew he was into guys before he told me he already has a serious boyfriend.”

“Well, maybe he just figured it out for himself via said boyfriend”, Hermione reasoned. “Sexuality is a very wide field, Harry. Maybe he still hasn’t completely figured out his. He could be gay, bi, pan…”

“Can we not discuss my baby son’s sexuality?!”, Harry exclaimed.

Hermione’s lips turned up in a knowing smile.

“Or is that really the problem here? He’s not you baby son anymore, Harry. He’s almost an adult. And it’s okay that someone else has him now.”

Harry decided to silently agree to disagree. It was not okay. No one could _have_ Al.

 

* * *

 

Albus, of course, had other ideas.

“Dad, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

It was the midterm break and it was unusual for Albus to be back home for it since it was so short, just a couple of days. He must have really wanted to introduce the boyfriend to his family.

 _His quite serious boyfriend since it had come to this,_ Harry growled internally.

The guy standing half a step behind Al shuffled uncomfortably.

There was something about that boy. Something eerily familiar. That pale blond hair, the pointy nose… His eyes were dark blue where Harry expected to see misty grey. There was a very forced and painfully nervous smile on his face but his manners seemed deeply engraved into him. The boy extended a hand.

“It is nice to finally meet you, sir. I’m Alex.”

Harry took the hand. His grip tightened and his gaze was dark and searching when he insisted,

“Alex whom?”

The two boys exchanged a look. And Harry could _see_ the whole conversation.

_‘Told you he wouldn’t buy it.’_

_‘I’m sorry…’_

The blonde sighed and squared his shoulders, head held high as if he prepared for a fight.

“Scorpius Alexander Malfoy II.”

 

* * *

 

Harry burst through the door, the yell already rolling out of him.

“Did you know?!”

For his part, Draco looked up calmly as if there wasn’t a deranged Auror in the middle of his office.

“That you have no manners? Yes, I did.”

“About Scorpius and…”

 _That_ did the trick. Draco bolted from his chair, rounding his desk in a few quick steps.

“What about him!?”

“I…”, Harry faltered. That wasn’t the reaction he had expected. Draco grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“Harry, what’s wrong with my son!”

And that, _that’s_ when Harry realized how it looked: he was an Auror, obviously upset, and he’d come to deliver news about Draco’s only son.

“…Nothing”, he whispered. “Draco, he’s fine. I promise.”

Silver eyes kept staring at him for a few more heartbeats as if searching for a catch, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. The blonde heaved a relieved sigh and collapsed back into another chair, trembling hands raking through disheveled hair.

“Ever since his mom… I can’t also…”, he gulped once, clenching his eyes tight before he opened them again. And squared his shoulders in a painfully familiar way. “What about him?”, he asked, much more calmly now.

Harry immediately felt bad. Could he have been a little less of a drama-dad?!

He also heaved a sigh and tried to start this from the beginning.

“Can we talk somewhere else? We could grab some coffee or…?”, he tried.

Draco seemed to catch on and see the olive branch for what it was. He looked at the clock on the wall.

“I could take my break now.”

 

* * *

 

They decided to take a walk in the nearby park, paper cups of coffee clutched in their hands. The first snow had finally fallen even here, in London, and it was quite chilly out there. But it looked like they both needed to cool their heads.

“Let me guess: he introduced himself with his middle name”, Draco smirked; but there was something soft in it, not his usual haughty smile. Harry got the impression that it was an expression he usually got when Scorpius was involved.

“He did”, Harry nodded.

Draco snorted inelegantly, completely out of character. “He hates his given name. Never really got how it was a tradition that we name our children after constellations…”

“Then how about…”, Harry began, but Draco interrupted him already knowing where this was going,

“… or at least light, since Lucius comes from the Latin Lux, meaning light”, he finished with a grin.

Harry grinned back.

But then Draco’s smile faded.  

“He also hates his last name”, he admitted quietly. “Wouldn’t say it if he has a chance to hold it back.”

Harry remained quiet as Draco stared down at his cup contemplatively.

“I get it, you know. I know the face people make when they hear the name Malfoy now. I don’t blame him that he doesn’t feel comfortable sharing that with people. Especially when he wants to make a good first impression.”

Draco looked up, straight into Harry’s eyes.

“Well, did he?”

Harry smiled.

“Yeah, Draco. He did. You raised a good son.”

Draco smiled back but there was something sad in it.

“Astoria did, mostly. I was always working. By the time she… passed… Scorp and I had almost no father-son bond.”

“I’m really sorry about her”, Harry said honestly.

Draco nodded curtly, gulping back what could have been bitter tears but forcing on a smile.

“Yeah.”

They finished their walk in silence.

 

* * *

 

“I heard you met with Malfoy the other day”, Ron said conversationally while they were sparring on a lazy afternoon when there were no planned assignments.

Harry hummed noncommittally, dodging a kick and a mild curse.

“Well?”, Ron pushed.

“He’s… different”, Harry said. “Not who he used to be.”

“Aren’t we all?”, Ron pointed out, successfully tripping a distracted Harry and winning their friendly contest.

 

* * *

 

There were dark circles under Draco’s eyes the next time Harry visited him.

“What is it exactly that you do?”, he asked, leaning against the doorframe as Draco finished writing some paper.

The blonde smirked.

“I’m actually a Professor.”

Harry’s brows shot up. “Like… you’re teaching?”

“No, I’m a Healer. I just have enough articles published and enough recognition to have gained the academic title.”

He finally paused, looking up to see Harry’s reaction when the silence stretched between them. The Auror’s looked thoughtful.

“That’s what you have worked so hard to achieve. Recognition for your own worth. Despite of the name.”

Draco’s smile was small, but pleased and real when he just nodded modestly.

 

* * *

 

“Happy anniversary, ex-husband!”, Ginny grinned, saluting him with a still unopened bottle as she stood on his doorstep.

He stepped aside to let her in, rolling his eyes.

“Remind me again why we still celebrate it since we’re not together anymore?”

Ginny popped open the bottle. Her gaze stopped on the pictures of their children above the mantle. She looked back at him with a soft smile.

“Because. It wasn’t a mistake”, she nodded at the pictures. “We did well, Harry. Even if it ended.”

He smiled back, nodding in agreement. “We did well.”

She poured him a drink and looked straight in his eyes.

“We _are_ okay. And… it’s okay to move on. You know that, right?”

 She has always been one of his best friends. And it was truly a miracle that she had managed to _continue_ being his best friend.

He smiled, clinking their glasses.

 

* * *

 

“This is turning into a pattern”, Draco observed, sipping from his cup as they took a stroll down the Diagon Alley.

“Are you complaining?”, Harry asked.

“Merlin, no”, Draco sighed.

They both smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

It was beyond weird when your own son questioned your love life, Harry decided.

“So, I hear you and Scorp’s dad are going out…”

“For coffee! Just coffee, what is wrong with people and assuming things?!”, Harry erupted.

Albus graced him with a level look.

“Right.”

Harry stubbornly went back to his coffee, now having it in his own living room… under his own son’s imploring gaze.

“Dad. I’m not a baby anymore. You can tell me… if… there was ever something more between you and Mr. Malfoy.”

“What! No!”

There hadn’t been, not really.

“It’s just… it was just…”

Tension. Dancing around each other in every possible way: childhood rivals, being on the two different sides of a war, attacking each other and saving each other, so many times.

And then, that night when Harry had given back Draco’s wand. The lingering looks. The misty exhales of their breath in the cold night. If he had leaned, just a little, if he had risked… would he have stolen that kiss or would it have been willingly given? In the end, the great Auror Potter was too much of a coward to find out.

And now… now Draco had turned into this amazing man, softer, more human, more approachable. More… lovable...

“Just?”, Al prompted.

“Unfinished… sympathy”, Harry smiled darkly.

“Well. Finish it then”, Al said simply.

Everything was so simple for these kids!

 

* * *

 

It was raining buckets outside when they jogged to their favorite coffee place. Surprisingly enough it was in a Muggle area so they had to actually use umbrellas and Draco didn’t stop complaining how his shoes were forever ruined and his hair was a mess and he sounded so much like the brat back from their Hogwarts days and it shouldn’t have caused a warmth in Harry’s chest.

But the warmth only turned into something more when Draco turned back with a grin.

“We should have just grabbed something from the cafeteria. That was a terrible idea, Potter!”, he chuckled.

“Was it?”, Harry whispered.

Draco’s smile faded slowly.

The slight London mist weaved its way around their soaked feet. Their breath hung in small clouds between them… just like back then, all those years ago. If Harry had stolen that kiss back then maybe things would be different now. Maybe they would have parted ways forever, deciding to forget that small moment of intimacy. Maybe they would have gotten together… and their amazing children would never have been born. Everything had happened for a reason, Harry knew now. But if he hadn’t stolen that kiss back then and had thought about it his whole life after that… he could do something now. He should.

He would.

He leaned in and his lips caught Draco’s in a soft kiss. It was a barely there thing, sweet and a little naïve. Draco’s lips were cold. Harry’s were chapped. The rain kept falling around them drowning the whole world that they didn’t care about, not right now. It was perfect.

“Can you guys move that somewhere else? Like, I’m happy for you and all, but I need my caffeine and you’re standing at the entrance.”

They broke apart, snorting inelegantly and Draco turned to apologize to the young girl that had spoken right next to them.

Harry didn’t mind the interruption. There was a promise in Draco’s eyes that this kiss was only the first of many.


End file.
